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Unfortunately, there are many rumors and myths about acne’s causes. Many of them were around when our grandparents were teenagers, but unlike pimples, those myths never seem to go away completely. Dirty skin doesn’t cause acne. Avoiding chocolate won’t keep you from developing acne. Instead, the number one reason people get acne is whether or not their parents had acne. Even if someone has a genetic predisposition for acne, it doesn’t usually appear until puberty. Prepubescent children do not get acne because they’re free from the hormonal changes that can lead to overactive oil glands called sebaceous glands. When those oil glands are activated by hormones, they can begin to over-produce. Bacteria begin to overgrow. Males and females get it at the same rate, and there’s no real gender difference.