Once there was a little girl whose mother wanted the best for her. The mother had been chubby as a child, and she always felt disapproved of by her own mother because of it. She was determined not to let her own little girl suffer the way that she had. Kids had teased her. When she got to be a teenager, she was unpopular. No boys were interested. Her daughter would be different.
So she monitored her girl's food, day by day, starting when her girl was a toddler. No junk, sweets only for special occasions. The mother decided when her child was hungry, when she should eat, when she shouldn't. All the while this mother was still battling her own overeating. She was still chubby, constantly dieting, but eating goodies secretly so her daughter wouldn't see.
She loved her daughter with all her heart. This was the way she thought of protecting her from life's hurts. It didn't work.
Her daughter got to be a teenager with big food issues. She rebelled against the strict food rules. She ate junk any time she was away from her mother. And she knew her mother always ate secretly, and the daughter took up these same bad eating habits herself.
You can't blame the mother for trying, but there's a better way. Now that the daughter has her own baby girl, she's determined not to control her child's eating, to leave her alone to grow.