 [ Symptoms ] what is iron deficiency anemia [ Disease ] iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of anemia it is a decrease in the number of red blood cells caused by too little iron without sufficient iron your body can not produce enough hemoglobin a substance in red blood cells that makes it possible for them to carry oxygen to the body is tissues as a result you may feel week tired and irritable about 20 of women 50 of pregnant women and 3 of men do not have enough iron in their body the solution in many cases is to consume more foods high in iron