I think if you are at the same instant feeding a vice like smoking, drinking, or overeating, that would negate any justification for 'stealing to feed a starving child' or asking for charity for the same.
As with all subjects touching on morals, my rule and guide is the laws of my religion. As it is for many others as evidenced by many of the comments in this thread. But the "Thou shall not steal" is an over simplification.
In Halachic (Jewish) Law every commandment may be broken in order to save a life. In fact, it would be a sin to chose following G-d's law if I could have saved a life by breaking it.