Part of the jigsaw puzzle was missing, Associate Prof Ben Wheeler said yesterday.
Potential solutions included developing an automatic way of delivering the required insulin, as well as the monitoring.
"We just need to find the next part of the puzzle," he said.
Prof Wheeler co-led the research team with Dr Sara Boucher, both of the University of Otago’s department of women and children’s health.
The researchers undertook a six-month trial among adolescents aged 13-20 with a history of suboptimal glycaemic control, and reported their findings in Diabetes Care, a leading US-based journal.
The research featured several novel aspects, including new insights into "flash glucose monitoring", involving the use of a small sensor under the skin of the upper arm.
For this study, researchers had for the first time run a large trial with this adolescent grouping of people, who potentially had most to gain from new diabetes therapies, but were "usually excluded from diabetes research”.
A handheld device scans the sensor to gain the current glucose level and receive other information, including predictions of future levels.
Researchers compared monitoring results of 64 study participants — one group using flash glucose, and the other using finger-prick monitoring.
Participants given the flash monitors had more than doubled their monitoring frequency.
Dr Boucher said that youth traditionally have the least healthy glucose control.
The next research steps include more support for youth, and a focus on diet and sleep, being led by Dr Boucher.
Also being considered are artificial pancreas systems that combine monitoring technology with computer-driven, automated insulin delivery.
More than 250,000 people in this country have diabetes, and an estimated 25,000 of them have type 1, which is usually diagnosed in childhood.
