Obviously I hope you don't mean physically hurting the child... but if you mean 'should a parent continue to do what is best for their child even if it upsets the child', then yes, absolutely.
Children don't know what's best for them, their brains aren't fully formed and they're not very good at seeing past the here and now. A child who loves candy will possibly eat until they are sick, because they haven't yet had that experience of being terribly sick... or they will absolutely prefer to watch television or play games instead of homework.. because homework is boring and they don't understand the benefits until they're much older. I had an opportunity to play the violin but I couldn't be bothered and so gave it away, and now as an adult I think I regret that decision... for 15 minutes a day for a couple of years I could be a really good musician now... but instead I watched TV and that's not really a skill to be proud of.
The short answer is that children don't know or care what's best for them... that's why their children and they need looking after. If they knew what was best then we wouldn't have families at all.
Very interesting question!